Water closet bowl with integral seat posts



April 30, 1935. D, HELFRlcH 1,999,905

WATER CLOSET BOWL WITH INTEGRAL SEAT POSTS Filed Sept. 3, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet l April 1935- 1 M. D. HELFRICH 1,999,905

WATER CLOSET BOWL WITH INTEGRAL SEAT POSTS Filed Sept. 5, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 30, 1935. HELFRlcl-l 1,999,905

WATER CLOSET BOWL WITH iNTEGRAL SEAT POSTS Filed Sept. 3, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 mm FHIH April 30, 1935. M. D. HELFRICH 1,999,905

WATER CLOSET BOWL WITH INTEGRAL SEAT POSTS Filed Sept. 3, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet Patented Apr. 30, 1935 WATERCLOSET BOWL: WI-TH ,SEAT ros'rs- NT orricg INTEGRAL Michael D. Helfrich,-Evansville, Ind. plication-September 3, 931, Serial No. 560,883

' r .4 Claims. (01. zes) invention relates to those-water closet bowls of the class having seat posts integral with.

= the bowl. 7 I

The ordinary water closet bowl has meta-lposts .5 which are secured by nuts and washers andserve as'hinge: posts for the seat and cover, or; for the seat alone, if-no coverisused- Posts of thischaracteriare unsanitary, collect dirt,- become tarnished andeorrode, loosen, get out ofialignment and are ofitenthe cause: of breakageof the seat,

coverorbowl. y 7 Those water closet bowls of.-the.,generalclass -to-which my, present improvements belong, having seat posts integral with the bowl, have generally been unsatisfactory, due to expense of. manufac ture, clumsy appearance, and tothe fact that the ,integral posts project .freely and are easily ..-Wrenched ofi-hy handling the-seat or cover, or both, orare accidently broken; a t

YIEhepri-noi-pal object: of the invention is toprovide=an improved water closet bowl having; posts .for the seat orseatand cover-which are-integral with. the bowl and its: shelf and are bracedeand reinforced. by said shelf, thuseliminating all-ex;-

posed metal, rubber; or fabric; connections and providing a neat, sanitary construction which'is strong and durable, very difliciilt tobreal; and has no projecting partsv j I Formed integral with the bowl and its shelf, are posts extending forwardly fromthe shelf and pro- ,vided with one or more steps according to whether a seat alone is-used, a seat and covenyor a seat, cover, and baby insert. a The rear; parts of the posts being integral with the. shelf, they are braced and. strengthened by the latter and. prevented irom breaking. I do not limit myself tothadesign or outline ofthe. hinge posts nor tothe number of stepson saidposts.

. ;,1The seat, and the cover, if a cover be used, have 7 their rear parts hinged to the integral :posts by rods and nuts. which are, concealed,,leaving no projecting. or exposed parts to corrode, collect dirt, or becomeunsanitary. v

.In oneformof the invention,- the seat and its {cover have. their rearwardly extending parts re- .ceivedbetween the hinged. posts. in another embodiment, the rearwardly. extending part of the seat straddles or receives the integral hinge posts andthe. cover is received between saidiintegral hingeposts. a t I lln that embodiment of the invention where the integral hinge posts are designedto bestraddled bythe seat: if a cover-be-employed, should the installation be one such as is commonly used. in hotels and other public places where no cover is tion; 7

, desired or necessary, that form of seat having its rear. partadap-ted to be entered between the hinge posts may be combined therewith so that the omission of the seat cover will not result in any exposure of the hinge rod.

Theseat postsintegral with the bowl and its shelf, which are the principal feature of the present invention, are adapted for use in connection with low flush tanks, high flush tanks, fiushometers, or any other flushing device, and Ido not limit'myself to the use of the bowl having improved integral seat posts in connection with any kind or typeof tank or water supply or connection-between the bowl and said water supply.

Among the advantages of my invention are'the prevention of breakage of the integral posts while obtaining all of their advantages the elimination of exposed metal connections between the seat and its cover and the bowl; vthe preven- :tion of thehingeconnectionworkingloose or getting out of alinement; the adaptability to attach .the seat and cover as a unit tothe bowl without the exposure of'metalparts; greatly reducing the V expense of the bowl; seat andcover installation because of theomission of the exposed metal hinge posts nuts, washers and gaskets;- doing away with the unsightly seat and .cover connections and. improving the appearance of the bowl; and other features appearing more fully hereinaften; 1 e

vIn the accompanying drawings: l ,,Figure 1 is a plan view of one embodiment of the invention, the seat and cover being closed;

Fig. 2- is a side elevation. thereof;

Fig. 3 is asimilar view, certain parts of the. bowl being broken away to show the hinged parts ofthe seat and cover, .the hinge rods being in cross section; V I 4 Fig. 4 isa section on the line 4-4, Fig. 3;.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5', Fig. 3 Fig. 6is;a view like Fig. 1, showing amodifica- Fig-7 is aside elevation of the" modification shown in Fig. 6; j

Fig. 8' is a plan view of the bowl of Figs. 1, 2, and 3,the seat, cover, and hinge rods being omitted; and I Fig. 9 is a View like Fig. 3,-showing the bowl of the form-disclosed inFigs. 6 and '7. 7

Referring first. to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive and 8,. the bowll and its shelf if maybe of any desired construction except in'respect toits hinge posts :2 which are formed integralwith the. .bowland duced rear ends III, II, on the cover l2 and seat The hinge posts 2 which rise from the top of the bowl I forwardly of the shelf l' and are integral with the bowl and shelf, are arranged parallel to each other and have one or more steps 3, 4.

'There may be a third step, not shown, if a baby l3, respectively. I y

The side faces of the rear ends [0, ll of the cover and seat, respectively, are received snugly, yet easily, between the respective integral posts 2 and have holes I4, l5 through which the hinge rods 8, 9 loosely pass.

foo

' The respective hinge rods 8, 9 are held rigidly to the posts 2 by headed cylindrical internally screw thre'adednuts l6, which are received in countersinks H in the hinge posts 2 and are provided with slots It so that they may be screwed up with a screw driver.

It will be observed that no metal parts of the hinge rods and nuts are exposed except the outer faces of the nuts.

If, with the embodiment shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it is desired that the cover H be omitted as, for instance, in an installation in a hotel or other public place, the hinge rod 9 its nuts l6 are removed and porcelain or other studs are inserted .in the countersinks IT to close the openings in the steps 4. I

'Referring now to the embodiment shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 9, the seat l3 has its rearward extension cutout so that it may straddle the seat posts 2', previously referred to, instead of fitting between the seat posts. -IThe fit of the parts, however, is close to exclude dirt.

The cover l2 has a down-turned part [0' on its rearward extension l0, said part fitting snugly, yet easily, between the seat'posts 2'.

A single hinge rod, similar to the hinge rods 8, 9, extends through alined holes in the rear extension of the seat and of the cover and is "secured in position by nuts 16, similar to the nuts I6.

.If it is desired to dispense with the cover in the embodiment shown in Figs. 6,7 and'9 and only to employ a seat, in that event, a seat such as shown at l3'in Figs. 1 and 2, will have its rear extension inserted between the seat posts 2 and hinged by a single hinge'rod, such as either 8 or 9, andsecur'ed by nutsv l6". 7 e

In either of the embodiments disclosed, a baby insert, not shown, may be employed, as previouslyexplained, by substituting it for-the cover 12, or, an additional step may be provided in the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and a baby insert provided, thus having two seats of different sizes and one cover.

The bowl having the present integral seat posts may be of any material but it is particularly intended to be made of vitreous material. The

hinge posts, 2, 2' being integral with the bowl I and shelf I and extending forwardly from said shelf, they are very strong and durable and possess none of the defects incident to earlier from the bowl, are fragile and easily wrenched or knocked off, particularly if of vitreous material.

What I claim is:

1. A water closet bowl having integral therewith a raised shelf and a pair of upstanding spaced hinge-posts integral with the bowl and raised shelf, said raised shelf joining the rear edges of the hinge-posts together and reinforcing the same, said hinge-posts being disposed within the confines of the opposite lateral side edges of the raised shelf in position to be protected thereby, and'having transversely aligned holes therethrough adapted to receive a single hinge rod.-

c 2. A water closet bowl having integral therewith-a raised shelf and a pair of upstanding spaced hinge-posts integral with the bowl and raised shelf, said raised shelf joining the rear edges ofthe hinge-posts together and reinforcing the -same,'said hinge-posts being disposed with the upper edges thereof below the top of the raised shelf and with the outermost portions of posite lateral side edges of the raised shelf in position to be protected thereby, said hinge-posts having transversely aligned holes therethrough adapted to receive a single hinge-rod for a seat.

A water closet bowl having integral therewith a raised shelf and a pair of upstanding spaced hinge-posts integral with the bowland raised shelf, said'rais'ed shelf joiningthe rear edges of the hinge-posts together and reinforc- -a seat, a seat part having a portion mounted between the hinge-posts and extending transversely' from one of said posts to the other, and a single hinge rod extending through the holes in the hinge-posts and throughthe portion of the seat part therebetween for hinging said seat part to the bowl. r

4. A, water closet bowlhavingintegral therewith a raised shelf and a pair of upstanding spaced hinge-posts integral with the'bowl'and raised shelf, said raisedsh'elf joining the-rear edges of the hinge-posts together and reinforcing thesame, said hinge-posts being disposed with the upper edges thereof below the top of the raised shelf and with the outermost portions of the sides thereof within the confines of the opposite lateral side edges of the raised shelf in position to b'e-protected thereby, and said hinge-posts having transversely aligned holes therethrough adapted to receive a single hinge rod fora seat, a seat part having a portion mounted between the hinge-posts and extending transversely from one of said posts tothe other, and a single hinge rod extending through :thGjhOlCS in the -hinge-posts and through the portion of the seat part therebetween for hinging said seat part 'to the bowl, said hinge rod terminating at the outer ends of the holes in the hinge-posts and having heads at opposite ends within the confines of the outer sides ofthe hinge-posts, r

I MICHAEL D. HELFRICH.

thesides thereof within the confines of the 013- 

